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Australia: Gillard Out, Marriage Equality Supporter Rudd In

Written by scott on June 26th, 2013

As we await the US Supreme Court decisions on marriage equality, there’s some surprising news from down under. Staunch marriage equality opponent Julia Gillard is out of the Prime Ministership, and recent convert Kevin Rudd is in. Pink News reports:

Julia Gillard, who is strongly opposed to equal marriage, has confirmed she will resign as Australia’s prime minister in favour of Kevin Rudd – with LGBT campaigners welcoming the news. It follows a leadership ballot of Labor MPs. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd is now the new Labor leader and is set to be sworn in as Australia’s new prime minister. Mr Rudd announced his support for equal marriage in May, having previously been against it.

It’s a great step for marriage equality in Australia, but unless the opposition partly lets its members have a free vote, it likely won’t amount to much in the short term. Still, it’s a big relief to see Gillard shown the door.